HCF MISSIONARIES
Hill Country Fellowship is a missions focused church that engages in the Great Commission. We support & invest in missions locally and globally by proclaiming the good news with the authority of Jesus. The relationships that the Lord has connected us to, span over many years and have born much fruit for the Kingdom. Our supported missionaries are an inspiration and motivate us to continue to pursue how we can partner with God in what He's doing in the Earth. Please take some time get to know our missionaries by reading the bio information below and following the links. In addition, pray about how you can "Go", send, pray and invest in the call to preach the gospel to all creation.
SUPPORTED MISSIONARIES
Kelly & Lenora Brake
BRAKE MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL
Kelly & Lenora Brake began preaching the Gospel together in 1980 on the streets of lower Manhattan in New York City. Throughout the past 38 years of ministry their calling has carried them across nearly half of the world's nations and to more than 250 tribal and people groups in some of earth's most remote and unreached areas. Declaring the Word of God with both love and a demonstration of resurrection life, the Brakes have had the privilege to partner with tens of thousands of church and regional leaders to advance the message and method of Christ's Kingdom into places where darkness once ruled unchallenged, but now retreats before the unstoppable advance of Jesus, the Light of the World. Brake Ministries International is focusing over the coming years on equipping international church leaders, raising up and releasing the next generation of harvesters toward the completion of the Great Commission, and promoting through prayer and proclamation the current outpouring of God's Spirit upon America which is in it's beginning stages.
David & LaRae Pepper
AMAZON OUTREACH
In January 2014 David became the President of Amazon Outreach. The mission of the organization is to make disciples, train leaders and plant churches through manifesting life and hope in tangible ways. David and his wife LaRae love ministering in the jungles of South America to unreached people groups with the gospel of Jesus Christ. A former church planter and commercial fisherman in Alaska he and LaRae live with a spirit of adventure to demonstrate the Kingdom of God.
Kevin & Hillary McCasland
MISSION COALITION
The Mission Coalition assists missionaries and other global workers in their calling by handling the practical operations of missionary work. They partner with missionaries and individual congregations, facilitating vision trips, short-term trips, Global Sundays, and more. Kevin & Hilary partner alongside local individuals to equip, train, mobilize and empower them to fulfill the Great Commission.
Blake & Jenni Kasha
YWAM Kona
Blake and Jenni Kasha alongside their 2 biological children and 1 foster daughter help bring leadership to Respect The Corners. A ministry under the Umbrella of Youth With A Mission based out of Kona, HI that uses the Avenue of fitness to reach, engage, and activate the lost. They’ve helped train and send out over a dozen functional fitness specific coaches to places such as the Middle East, parts of Europe, Asia, and America! Blake has also been apart of trekking Bibles to the hardest and darkest places of the high Himalayas, while pioneering an elite Mountaineer / Bible distribution team that will adopt the Himalayas till every village has a gospel in their mother language. All together Blake and Jenni have helped train and activate Thousands of young adults (some older), to carry their message and the Love of Jesus into the nations and back to their hometowns, living their life on mission. At the same time they have a huge heart for the broken family dynamics on the island of Hawaii. They have become foster parents in their early twenties. The big island is in what they consider a fostering crisis where there are only 800 something foster families for over 2,600 + foster kids. The Kasha’s have had 6 kids come through their home in the past couple years. One of these precious kids has currently been with them for almost 2 years now! Their heart burns to see families reunified and whole here on the island!
Alger & Joyce Morris
Cambodia
Joyce and Alger minister in Cambodia and with Cambodian churches in the United States. They are called to train, mentor, and encourage young Cambodian leaders in Basic Discipleship and Christian Character. They are also called to network with other ministries and organizations to strengthen unity in the Cambodian church, and to mobilize Cambodians around the world to help rebuild the nation on Christian principles.
Nathan & Lacey Steel
Cultivate Relationships
Cultivate was inspired by Nathan and Lacey's journey to freedom from mindsets and behaviors that enslaved them. Nathan struggled with a deep-rooted bitterness toward his dad, an inability to share his feelings, and a 20-year addiction to pornography. His wife, Lacey, struggled with a fear that fed her explosive anger producing a need to control people and circumstances. In 2014, after nearly eight years on staff at a church in Alaska, the Steels became full-time missionaries in Homer, Alaska serving at Alaska Bible Institute. While there, they developed and taught the Christian Living Course. During this time, they saw students set free from life-long bitterness, reunited with estranged family members, and freedom from childhood traumatic experiences. It is out of this life-changing experience that a vision was born to see the material and tools used for personal discipleship. In 2017, they moved to Texas and launched Cultivate.
Donna Shaw & Bobbie Steiner
Weakday Ministries
Weakday Ministries, NP, seeks to bring Christ to busy families during the week and provide for the underserved children in Burnet County. This ministry was founded by Donna Shaw in 2016 in an effort to help people incorporate Christ into their daily lives, to help fill the gap between community and church, and to provide for children in need. Weakday Ministries strives to bring Christ to people where they are. Through our Lunch and Prayer ministry, Christ’s message and a meal is brought to local businesses in an effort to display God’s love in the work environment during the week. His Hands clothing ministry provides for clothing and toiletries to all BCISD students in need. Mentoring is available through Weakday Ministries for BCISD students. Our apartment ministry brings Christ’s message to residents of two apartments in Burnet, Texas. All of these ministries, ultimately, strive to help people nurture and grow in faith during the weekdays, not just on Sunday. Bobbie Steiner, Executive Director of Weakday Ministries, plans to expand upon existing ministries and, in connection with BCISD, to broaden the scope of assistance to BCISD students. Donna Shaw previously served as Executive Director but has transitioned her role to Senior Pastor for Weakday Ministries. This transition allows Donna to better focus on spiritual growth of those influenced by this ministry and will allow for greater connectional support between individuals and local churches.
Ron Pratt
This Generation Ministries
Rev. Ronald Pratt is in his 4th decade of ministering to young people. His unique intensity and passion for the lost is displayed in his commitment to his Calling as well as the application of his ministry to a generation. Discipleship is much more than a buzzword to him, it is the foundation of his focus, purpose, and destiny. President and Founder of THIS GENERATION MINISTRIES based in North Pole, he and his team continue to reach high-risk youth across Alaska and Asia. Developing winter camps, summer camps, conferences, school assemblies and village outreaches, TGM will continue to reach remote communities and bring hope to the hopeless. In 2003 he also started and directed the first Master’s Commission School in Alaska launching a generation into ministry. As an international author, his books are used as leadership guides and have been utilized as missions curriculum in Christian Universities.
Will & Sarai Neusch
CRU UT San Antonio
Will and Saraí Neusch disciple college students at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Alongside San Antonio Cru's mission to reach lost college students with the good news of the gospel, they develop future laborers and world class leaders for Christ who will reach the world. They've currently been married for two years and met in Cru as college students. Will and Saraí have served in San Antonio, Thailand and different parts of the United States. We'd love to connect with you more about how to partner with us to make the gospel known on the college campus.
Ernest Ehabe
Bread For Life / CADAC
Ernest was born in Tombel, in the South Region of Cameroon. One of many children of a prominent magician. His very early years were characterized by a sincere search for ultimate peace and truth. He unconditionally surrendered his life to Jesus at the age of thirteen. One of the first in his tribe to do so. Ernest attended Arkansas Tech University, Lee University, & Bowie State Universities where he majored in Sociology, Political Science and International Relations. He did some graduate work towards his MDiv at George Fox University and later an MA in Governance and Development at CERIS (University of Paris 11), Brussels, Belgium. Ernest is currently pursuing a PhD in Integrated Rural Development at the University of Dschang in Cameroon. Ernest wears many hats (a church planter, an Inspirational Speaker & a Social Entrepreneur). Ernest is the Founder of two non-profit organizations. Ernest is also the founder & Chief Innovation Officer of Ray of Hope Academy in Douala. Ray of Hope Academy started as a special needs school for autistic children (Ernest’s youngest son is autistic). As president of Bread For Life International, Ernest is responsible for BFL’s overall operations, which include fund-raising, advocacy, and program development. In addition to traveling and speaking across North America every year, Ernest spends a lot of his time in the West-Central part of Africa, consulting with Christian leaders, speaking at missionary gatherings, implementing strategies, reaching the lost as well as encouraging the saints.
Bill & Liz Ferguson
Croatia - Deaf People Group
Bill & Liz Ferguson are church planters with Pioneers. In 2016 they along with their 5 children moved to China with the purpose of church planting among an unreached unengaged people group. It was there that the Lord opened their eyes and gave them the burden for the forgotten people group- the Deaf. Unfortunately they were only able to live in China for two and a half years and had to abruptly leave the country due to political reasons. Upon their arrival to the states they knew that God still wanted them to church plant among the unreached Deaf of the world. Through prayer and research the Lord directed them to begin a work among the Deaf in Croatia. For 2,000 years the Croatian Deaf have had no access or option to believe in the Gospel. They would love to partner with you in taking the Gospel to the Croatian Deaf for the very first time.
Brandon & Morgan Edwards
Burnet Young Life
Young Life doesn't start with a program. It starts with adults who are concerned enough about kids to go to them, on their turf and in their culture, building bridges of authentic friendship. These relationships don't happen overnight — they take time, patience, trust and consistency. We are caring adults stepping into the world of spiritually disinterested kids, and building life-long relationships with them in hopes they come to a relationship with Jesus along the way. We hold weekly Young Life Club Meetings, Campaigner Bible Studies, and take kids to Camp every summer. If you’d like to hear more, we would love to visit with you!
Don Barlow
Texas Ramp Project
Have you ever changed a person’s life in a single day? The Texas Ramp Project does it hundreds of times a year! We build wheelchair ramps for disabled or elderly people who can’t afford to buy one. This critical service gives those who are mobility impaired, the freedom to safely remain in their homes, whose steps have imprisoned them, and provides safe access to medical treatment which would otherwise require them to move into a facility. In partnership with Hill Country Fellowship Church and other churches and individuals, your local volunteer team had built almost 200 wheelchair ramps in this area, and continues to receive more requests than we can financially meet. You can support us by becoming a volunteer builder or by providing the financial means necessary for us to continued our work.
Kevin & Lindsay Welch
Chi Alpha Alaska
We are Kevin & Lindsay Welch, and in 2014 we moved from Texas to Alaska to become Missionaries to the universities students, and rural villages of the last frontier. Our vision is to see more students have a real encounter with Christ, be trained and equipped as disciples, and sent out to share the Good News with others. We want to see a Gospel impact movement from the university students to the unreached parts of our state, and world!
Jacob & Carol Lee
Reaching Africa’s Unreached (RAU)
Our Mission is to reach Africa’s unreached people groups with the glorious Gospel of Jesus by planting Christ exalting churches in their midst. Furthermore, we will endeavor to strengthen local churches and their leaders through careful exposition of the Scriptures in word and deed that they may be strengthened to plant churches in nearby villages with no church and unreached peoples in their geographical regions.
Vyacheslav "Slava & Olya Selivanov
CRU Russia
Questions about God and life are really the most important questions a person can ask himself. The Christian New Life mission gives every person the opportunity to take the next step in understanding God and the world by exploring the issues of Christian life and faith. We strive to be close to those who seek answers to difficult questions, helping them to know what it means to follow Christ, to love our neighbor and serve the people around us.
Bridges International
bridges international.org
Bridges International is a caring community of Christ-followers committed to serve, promote social connections and engage in spiritual conversations with international students so that students become leaders internationally. Hill Country Fellowship is honored to be a partner with and serve the Bridges International team and students who attend the yearly fall retreat.
Camp Of The Hills
campofthehills.org
Camp began in the summer of 1990 when two men of faith brought eight inner city kids from Houston’s 5th Ward to the shores of Lake Travis for a few days of camping, swimming and fishing. The kids had never experienced the outdoors and had been asked to leave another summer camp for behavior reasons. They camped and cooked under the stars on land owned by Nelson Lewis, a contractor and rancher who lived nearby in the small community of Smithwick. There were no facilities or infrastructure. Over time, camp acquired a 105-acre site and, with primarily volunteer labor, constructed a main building, seven boy’s and girl’s cabins, two bath houses, a laundry room, eight sponsor cabins, water and wastewater systems and a concrete swimming hole. Camp of the Hills operates on an extremely lean annual operating budget and with a handful of paid staff. Approximately 80% of operating funds are comprised of charitable gifts. Camp leverages this budget of annual donations with thousands of volunteer hours. Since 1990, over 14,000 children have been introduced to the love of Christ through this ministry.